Organized in cooperation with the ASTM International Committee on Exoskeletons and Exosuits F48, the ErgoX exoskeleton symposium will bring together professionals from three groups to share their knowledge, experience, and goals:

Designers and producers will showcase and demonstrate their products.

Researchers from universities and government agencies will provide information on approaches to the design of human factors research on exoskeletons to appropriately assess fit, usability, safety, ergonomics, productivity and cost-effectiveness.

Users and workers with experience using exoskeletons in production environments will share their evaluation methods, expectations, and findings, both positive and negative.

Registration Information

Online registration opens in late June. Included in the registration fee is continental breakfast, lunch, and refreshment breaks.

Members and nonmembers: Save $100 off the rates below when you also register for the Annual Meeting. (Not applicable for students.)

Presented by Bruce Floersheim

Wearable robotic systems are quickly changing the realm of possibility with regard to optimizing human performance and improving physical rehabilitation. Floersheim will present an overview of the ecosystem of wearable robotics, provide a picture of global development and growth, and look at possibilities and issues of concern that will impact the future of the ergonomics and human factors in the next decade.

Bruce Floersheim

Bruce Floersheim is chief operations officer and cofounder of GoX Studio (www.goxstudio.com), a small product development company focused on wearable and robotic technologies that enhance health, performance, and quality of life. Currently he is supporting execution of a human performance optimization product commercialization to provide ergonomists with the next generation of quantitative assessment tools to assess and enhance workplace safety and human performance. He is also chief executive officer and cofounder of FITT Scientific, a government contracting (govcon) services company that has grown in 36 months from the two original founders to more than 160 employees working across both coasts of the United States supporting training at U.S. Army and U.S. Coast Guard bases. In his spare time, he is director of operations for the Wearable Robotics Association (WearRA – www.wearablerobotics.com), a trade association he cofounded that helps to bring together businesses, U.S. government program leaders, innovators, and technologies in this emerging technical field to establish international standards and to link buyers with sellers. He previously served 25 years on active duty in the U.S. Army, with 5 years in overseas assignments and operational and combat tours. He has a PhD in mechanical engineering and is a graduate of West Point, Class of 1989.

Afternoon Keynote Address – Ergonomic Assessment of a Spacesuit Exoskeleton: From The Perspective of Population Analysis, Fit, Accommodation, Comfort, and Performance

Presented by Sudhakar Rajulu

Evaluation of an exoskeleton is necessary to ensure a successful, safe, and comfortable deployment into a workplace with a wide range of users. Dr. Rajulu will present a comprehensive approach undertaken by the Anthropometry and Biomechanics Facility at NASA to assess and improve the design of a pressurized spacesuit being worn by astronauts for microgravity and partial gravity environments. He will also present the necessary essential steps on how to evaluate prototypes of a complex ensemble such as a spacesuit exoskeleton for a large user population with potentially limited test subjects’ data.

Sudhakar Rajulu​

Dr. Sudhakar Rajulu is serving as Technical Manager for the Anthropometry and Biomechanics Facility within the Biomedical Research and Environmental Sciences Division of the NASA-Johnson Space Center. His research is focused on establishing and ensuring that all space hardware and tools are designed to fit, accommodate, and enable all crewmembers, and to that extent has developed and continues to develop novel techniques, methods, tools, and processes to derive necessary human physical performance related requirements and considerations. His areas of expertise include: occupational biomechanical assessment of human physical performance in reduced and earth gravity environments which include: hand strength capabilities, pressurized suit and glove performance, whole body mobility capabilities, three-dimensional surface anthropometry related to crew-space hardware design and evaluation, and digital human modeling, Dr. Rajulu serves on the Scientific Board for IEA sponsored International Human Digital Modeling as well as on the Program Board for the HCI sponsored International Digital Human Modeling Committee. He also serves on the International Ergonomics Journal review board.